Deck & Hull Assembly

Since the plans don't have too many pictures and the drawings are sort of
schematic rather than pictorial, I had difficulty in figuring out how to
put things together. Hopefully these photos of finished sub-assemblies will
be helpful to you:

Here is the completed deck assembly. The hatch openings have been cut out,
mast hole cut out, a square piece of 3mm ABS plastic (the size of a postage
stamp) has been glued to the underside and
then a hole drilled and a metal tube inserted for the crewman's "rack". As
per the plans the tube extends 40mm above the deck; and lastly the
triangular foam block has been glued beneath. I used 5-minute epoxy for the
ABS joints. [Pat Clear comments: "I would only recommend solvent type
ABS cement."]

The rudder is made up of a number or ABS plastic pieces. You must shape the
round piece and the triangular arm yourself. You also need to shape the leading
and trailing edges of the rudder, sort of like an airplane wing.

The round hatch must be cut from the same piece of ABS plastic used for both
hatches. A hole is drilled in the middle and a small piece of angled plastic
cut to act as a stop to prevent the crossbar rotating. (The plans don't show
this well.) A large nylon screw and bevelled washer top it off. Later, the
black foam gasket sheet will be attached and trimmed.

I painted the hull and deck separately before gluing them together. After the
rudder and keel are painted and dry, they can be glued in place. By this time
you'll want a boat stand. I made mine like a typical folding sailboat stand,
but the plans include a template for a small non-folding stand.

Pardon the cluttered workbench! Notice the wires hanging down from the hull.
All the servos and winches are trial-fitted before the hull and deck are
assembled. They'll have to be installed before you can finish installing the
rudder.